MICHAEL AKINOLA
A 29-year-old notorious car snatcher, Yinka Adebimpe, a.k.a Akube, has told a Lagos Court Judge that his business was to snatch cars from owners with force of arms and that he was just released from prison after having spent over one year for the same offence.
P.M.EXPRESS reports that Yinka was arraigned before the Tinubu Magistrates Court for conspiracy and armed robbery.
He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to four years of imprisonment without any option of fine.
The convicted, Yinka, reportedly conspired with two others, snatched two cars from their owners along the Local Airport Road, Ikeja, Lagos and escaped to sell the vehicles.
However, the gang ran out of luck as they were tracked and eventually arrested by the Police operatives from the Special Weapons and Tactical team a.k.a SWAT, after they committed the offence in August 2022 with his accomplice, armed with Jack-knife and other dangerous weapons.
He told the Presiding Magistrate, B.A Sonuga, that he was a mechanic at the railway line in Ikeja, Lagos, before he joined full time armed robbery and had succeeded in many operations before he was arrested and charged before the Court.
After he pleaded guilty, the Prosecution Counsel, Abraham Fadipe, presented the facts of the matter before the Court and stated that the charge was preferred against him and two others by the operatives of the Nigeria Police Special Weapons and Tactical, SWAT, Force Headquarters, Abuja, after they were arrested.
Fadpe stated that Yinka in August 2022 led two others namely Bala Yinusa, 29, and Nasiru Adamu, 26, who are also facing trial, to rob a motorist, Balogun Folorunsho, of his Gulf 4 model car with registration No. KSG 750 HS valued at N2.8m, one Tecno Spark 4 phone valued at N52,000 and a cash sum of N33,000 all valued at N2,857,000 and equally robbed another motorist of his Toyota Matrix along the Local Airport Road, Ikeja, Lagos, armed with Jack-knife and other dangerous weapons at midnight. And that they subsequently took the stolen cars to Agege area of Lagos to look for a buyer.
However, nemesis caught up with them when one of the complainants sent a distress call to the DIG in charge of Operations, Force Headquarters, Abuja, about the incident who swiftly dispatched his crack team led by Inspector Fidelis Omage to Lagos to fish out the suspects and recover the stolen car from them.
The Police team swung into action, tracked the suspects and the stolen car to Dopemu area of Agege, Lagos, arrested the suspects and recovered the stolen car.
Fadipe stated that during the investigation, Yinka confessed to the crime and told the Police that he and the two others had been snatching cars from owners and robbing motorists of phones and other belongings with guns and jack-knife along Airport Road, Ikeja.
In his alleged confession, Yinka, also known as Akube, stated that he was an ex-convict.
“Few days after I came back from prison custody after serving a year and some months in jail in August 2022, I led my partners to rob two motorists of their cars along the Airport Road, Ikeja, Lagos with Jack-knife while pretending to be mechanics, which led to my arrest again. We promised to stop the robbery if we are set free.”
While he pleaded guilty to the two count charges in the open Court, the two others pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The Magistrate, B.A.Sonuga, subsequently sentenced Yinka to four years imprisonment without an option of fine on the two-count and granted the two others N500,000 bail each with two sureties each in like sum.
Sonuga adjourned the case of the two others till 15th November, 2022, for mention and ordered that the defendants be detained at the Ikoyi Correctional Facility till they perfect their bail conditions.